Cajuns Return Home For Saturday Tilt with Dillard

Game 7 - Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (5-1) vs. Dillard Bleu Devils (5-6)
Series History: Louisiana leads series 8-3
Last Meeting: Bleu Devils won, 82-74 on Feb. 24, 1983
Saturday, December 12, 2015 • 2 p.m. (CST) • Cajundome – Lafayette, La.
Live Stats l Live Video l Radio: ESPN1420 (Steve Peloquin)
Twitter Updates: @ULRaginCajuns • @RaginCajunWBB
Louisiana Women's Basketball Home Page l Dillard Women's Basketball Home Page
L ouisiana Game Notes

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (5-1) bring a three-game win streak back to the Cajundome for Saturday's non-conference matchup against the Dillard Bleu Devils (5-6). For the second straight season, Louisiana has come out of the gates with five wins in their first six games. The Ragin' Cajuns have won six of their past seven non-conference games dating back to last season. The Cajuns opened their Sun Belt Conference schedule with a 71-52 win at ULM back on December 3.

The recent play of the Cajuns continues to propel them up the ladder in a number of statistical categories. Louisiana is currently third in the Sun Belt Conference in three-point field goal percentage at .342 (25-of-73). The Cajuns are also defending the three-point line well, allowing opponents to shoot just 30% from long range (27-of-90), second best in the conference. The Cajuns are ranked first in the Sun Belt Conference and third nationally in turnover margin at plus-10.5.

The Ragin' Cajuns' 2015 WBI Championship banner will be unveiled prior to Saturday's 2 p.m. tip-off.

Setting the Scene: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (5-1, 1-0 SBC) women's basketball team returns home for a brief two-game, non-conference home stint beginning Saturday, Dec. 12 against Dillard University at the Cajundome. Louisiana finishes with UC Santa Barbara next Tuesday, Dec. 15 for an 11 a.m. tip-off from the Cajundome.
Entering the week, the Ragin' Cajuns are riding a three-game win streak after opening their conference slate with a 71-52 victory at ULM last Thursday. Junior guard Jaylyn Gordon poured in 21 points in the win, depositing a season-high six treys. Seniors Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge also added 14 points apiece. Including postseason, the Cajuns have won 10 of their past 11 non-conference games dating back to last season.
The Dillard Bleu Devils come into the game with 5-6 record and are winners of their past two games (80-71 win at Shawnee State, 71-69 win at Loyola University). Alena Evans is the team leader with 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest. She is also second in steals with 17 while shooting 46% (75-of-163) from the floor.

Coach Brodhead at the Helm: Louisiana head coach Garry Brodhead is in his fourth season at the helm of the Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball program, finishing with 23 wins last season, the most in a single season since 2006-07 (25). Brodhead guided the team to 15 victories at home in 2014-15, a program record. He is currently the third-winningest head coach in Cajuns history (52). He needs six wins to pass Ross Cook (57) for second on the program's all-time list.

Cajuns In the Rankings: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team held onto its spot at No. 19 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, released Tuesday. The Cajuns garnered 229 total points in this week's rankings and are one of three Sun Belt Conference schools among the Top 25 (No. 10 Arkansas State, No. 14 Little Rock).

Welcome Back: Returning from redshirt seasons are senior Brooklyn Arceneaux and junior Sylvana Okde. In 2013-14, Okde averaged 10.9 points and drained a team-high 74 three-pointers. That season, Arceneaux finished as the team's second-leading scorer (among players in at least 25 games played) averaging 10.5 points and adding 5.2 rebounds per contest. Arceneaux has averaged 5.2 points and 4.7 rebounds (second on team) in six games as a starter this season. She is shooting 40.6% (13-of-32) from the floor, the third-highest percentage among Cajuns with at least 30 shot attempts. Okde made her first appearance of the season in last week's win at ULM, playing one minute.

Tale of a First Half: In the first and second quarters this season, Louisiana has outscored their opponents, 108-79 and 101-72 respectively. In comparison, the Cajuns have outscored opponents in the third and fourth quarters, 94-92 and 96-73, a plus-25 point differential in comparison to a plus-58 point margin in the first half of games.

Winning the Turnover Battle: Through the first six games of the season, the Ragin' Cajuns have finished with fewer turnovers than their opponents in each contest.

Ball Movement: In all but one game (Southern-New Orleans), the Cajuns have tallied 10 assists or more and are 4-1 in those games.

Protecting the Ball: Two Cajuns are among the top four players in the Sun Belt Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio this season. Senior Kia Wilridge is third at 1.9 (19 assists, 10 turnovers) while junior Jaylyn Gordon is fourth at 1.5 (18 assists, 12 turnovers).

Gordon from Deep: Junior Jaylyn Gordon's six three-point field goals in last week's 71-52 win at ULM raised her season total to 17. She enters the week in a first-place tie for the most three-pointers made (Chelsea Tieuel) among conference players.

Veal Seeing Double: Senior guard Keke Veal has scored in double-figures in 20-straight games dating back to last season.

What's Next? The Cajuns welcome UC Santa Barbara to town on Tuesday, December 15 for an 11 a.m. tip-off at the Cajundome.

Cajuns Return Home For Saturday Tilt with Dillard

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Players Mentioned

Brooklyn Arceneaux

Jaylyn Gordon

Sylvana Okde

Keke Veal

Kia Wilridge

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